A Century of Community Spirit

Location:

Vancouver Japanese Language School
487 Alexander Street
Vancouver, BC

Discover the important role played by the Vancouver Japanese Language School in the early days of Vancouver. First opened in 1906, the school was an important educational and cultural centre for the Powell Street community.

Powell Street was the pre-war business centre of the Japanese community in Vancouver. The street was vibrant, busy and filled with Japanese people – in the busy open vegetable markets, the regular baseball games played by the Asahi ball team in Oppenheimer Park, the taxi company, the Japanese and English language newspapers, cafés, boarding houses, traditional bath houses, drug stores, department stores, and special Japanese food businesses, making tofu or manju. We invite you to discover the many monogatari (tales) of Powell Street.

Supported by Vancouver125, BC Arts Council, Vancouver Foundation, National Association of Japanese Canadians.